Windshield cleaner



Feb- 25 1936. E, HAN'SMANN WINDSHIELD CLEANER Filed March 7, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l 22T; Zwam? Feb 25g 1936. E. HANSMANN WINDSHIELD CLEANER Filed March '7, 1954 )zada 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l description, reference Patented Feb. 25, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,031,830 WINDSHIELD CLEANER Elwood Hausmann, Glencoe,

Ill., assigner to Stewart-Warner Corporation, Chicago, lll., a

corporation of Virgin:

Application March 7, 1934,` Serial No. 714,407 3 Claims. (Cl. 15 -255) My invention relates cleaners,

generally to windshield and more particularly to improved means for controlling the starting and stopping of windshield cleaners having ously operating wipers.

two simultane- A furtherobject of my invention is to provide improved means for shield wipers which a position of symmetry, with the wipers extending in opposite directions,'thereby to improve the general appearance of the automotive vehicle when the wipers are not in use.

Other objects will appear from the following being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of an automobile showing the Windshield Wipers in a position of rest;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the Windshield cleaner driving means;

Figure 3 is an elevational View of the wiper operating mechanism, taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 4;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional 6-6 of Figure 3; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line l-l of Figure 4.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to stopping a pair of lwindview taken on the line view taken on the line a windshield cleaner driven from a rotating part of the automobile engine through a flexible drive shaft, although the invention may be applied to other types of Windshield cleaners.

As shown in Figure 2, the Windshield cleaner drive is taken from a cam shaft I0 or other rotating part of the automobile engine. The shaft I0 has a Worm I2 secured thereto, the Worm meshing with a worm wheel I4 secured to the end of a clutch member I6, the latter being journaled in the plug |8 threaded in a crank case 20. The clutch member I6 has a diametrical slot 22 formed therein to receive the projecting ends of a pin` 24 which is pressed through a clutch member 26. 'I'he memberI 26 is connected by a exible drive shaft 28 with a rack 30 mounted in a tube 32, Which is secured to a gear casing 34,. The fiexible shaft 28 is enclosed in a suitable exible conduit 36. The rack 30 has an extension 38 which is square or of any other suitable non-circular cross-section, and is slidable in the squared portion 40 of the hub of a worm 42 which is Journaled in a pair of oscillate in parallelism, in

bushingsy 44 secured Within the gear casing 34. 'I'he worm 42 meshes with a worm wheel 46 carried by an operating shaft 48 journaled in a casing 34. A mutilated pinion 50 is secured to a control shaft 52, which is enclosed in a suitable housing 54, the latter being clamped by a bolt 56 to the tube 32.

It will be seen from Figure 2 that counterclockwise rotation of the shaft 52 will cause the rack 30 to move to the right, exerting a pull upon the exible drive shaft 28 and separating the clutch members 26 and I6, thus severing the driving connection. During' this movement of the rack 30 its extension 38 may move freely into the bore 58 of the worm 42.

The squeegee Wipers 60 Wiper armsV 62, the latter being secured to rock shafts 64, 66, respectively (Figs. 3 and 4) by any suitable resilient connection which will l are secured to bent maintain the squeegees in contact with the sur- 80 which is freely rotatable upon the rock shaft 64 and which is pressed against the pin by a compression coil spring 82. A link 84 has one end pivotalb' connected to the end of the arm 80 and its other end pivotally connected to a crank arm 86 which is secured to the end of shaft 48.

The right-hand rock shaft 66 similarly has a pin 88 extending therethrough, engageable with a notch 90 formed in the hub of an arm 92 which is freely rotatable upon the rock shaft but normally has its notch held in engagement with the pin 88 by a compression coil spring 94 which is compressed between the arm 92 and a bearing bracket 96, which is secured to or formed integrally with the mounting plate 14. The arm 92 is pivotally connected to one end of a link 98, the other end of which is pivoted to the crank arm 86. The control shaft 52 has a control lever |I6 shaped as shown in Figure 4, to'provide wedges for camming the arm 92 outwardly.

When the arm 92 is wedged outwardly, as shown in Figures 4 and 6 of the free 'to be rotated by a spring ||0 which has one end engaged in a slot formed in the shaft and its other end engaged in a notch provided in arm E02. Rotation of the shaft e@ under the inuence of spring H is limited by pin M2 which is pressed into a suitable opening provided in the shaft et, the end of the pin being adapted to move in. a slot iid formed in the bushing l2. This pin and slot mechanism prevents the spring if@ from rotating the shaft 60 beyond its normal range of movement under the influence of Vthe normal driving mechanism.

When the wiper is in the 0H position, as shown in Figures l, 3, d, 5 and 6 of the drawings, the wiper attached to the shaft $6 is rotated through substantially 180 degrees by the spring it@ and held in this position. When the handle H5 attached to the shaft 52 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 3, the clutch 22, 24 is engaged to connect the blade driving mechanism with the cam shaft of the engine and at the same time the broad parts of the wedges |06 and |08 are withdrawn from between the mounting plate 14 and the arm 92, thereby permitting spring 94 to move arm 92 toward the left, as seen in Figure 6, until the hub of the arm rests against the pin 88. As the upper end of arm 92 is moved toward the left, as shown in Figure 3, the notch 90 engages the pin 88 when the'arm 92reaches the extreme limit of its leftward movement and thereafter the shaft 66 and its attachedv wiper blade oscillate with the arm 92.

When the windshield cleaner is no longer needed, the operator turns handle ||6 in a counterclockwise direction, thereby disconnecting the clutch 22, 24 and moving link |02 toward the right, as viewed in Figures 3 and 4, thereby moving the widest parts of the wedges |06 and |01 between the mounting plates 14 and the arm 92. 'I'his moves arm 92 to the right, as viewed inFigure 6, and disengages the notch 90 from the pin 88. The rightward movement of theV link |02 increases the tension on the spring ||0 yand this spring thereupon rotates the shaft and its ati tached wiper blade to the off position shown in Figure 1. As previously stated, this oscillation of abaisse drawings, shaft 89 is' the shaft 6B under the inuence of spring I0 is limited by pin ||2. It' should be noted that the link |02 is moved to a position which tensions the spring ||0 whenever this spring is called upon tol rotate the shaft 66, and that the link |02 is moved to a' different position to reduce the tension in spring H0 whenever the shaft 66 is to be oscillated by the normal driving mechanism.

While I have shown and described only one form of my invention, it is to be understood that my invention is capable of assuming numerous forms and that the scope of my invention is to be limited solely by the following claims.

I claim:

i. In mechanism of the class described, a pair of shafts, Wiper blades attached thereto, power means for oscillating said shafts, a hand control for said power means, a link connected with and moved by said hand control, wedge means associated with. said link, a clutch connected with one of salda shafts andv controlled by4 said wedge means, a spring having one end connected to said link and the other end connected to said last-l mentioned shaft, the tension of said spring varying with' the position of said link, and means for limiting the movement of said last-mentioned shaft under the influence of said spring.

2. In a Windshield cleaner of the class described, the combination of a blade operating shaft, a spring having one end operatively connected to said shaft and a second end connected to a movable member, means for mechanically driving said shaft, a handle for moving said member in opposite. directions to vary the tension of said spring. land means operatedv by said handle for disconnecting said driving'means fromy said shaft. v y f. .v y. f

3.*In a windshield cleaner `of* the class described, the combination of a plurality of blade operatingvshafts, mechanical means: for driving connected to one 'only of said shafts` and Aa second end connected to a movable member, means as,-y

said shafts, a spring having one end operatively and a. handle for' movingsaidmember in opposite controlv the .tionedshaft andl said'driving means., y 1 ELWOOD directionst0.varythe-tensionof saidspring'andto connection betweenv said last-menn 

